From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V6 #56 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, February 27 2000 Volume 06 : Number 056 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] Anyone in New York who... [Songbird22@aol.com] Mila Drumke show tonight cancelled [Paul Blair ] Re: ofra and squonk opera [srelief@teleport.com] Whoa-ho-ho!!! [Paul Blair ] Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 4/5 [Neile Graham ] Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 5/5 [Neile Graham ] Re: Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 5/5 ["glenn mcdonald" ] Re: Ofra Haza (1957-2000) [Billi Mazur ] NYC Metro TV & radio ad: Kohl's [MockRafe@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 03:00:04 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ******************* Brni Mojzes (mojzes@monet.vill.edu) ******************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Brni Mojzes Fri February 26 1965 the vanishing boy Pamela Pociluk Fri February 28 1964 Pisces Peter Clark Thu March 04 1948 Pedestrian Tim Steele Fri March 08 1963 Pisces Matt Bittner Thu March 12 1964 Pisces kIrI Hargie Fri March 13 1970 Pisces Bob Dreano Thu March 13 1958 Pisces Randall K. Smith Sat March 15 1969 Pisces Jessica Skolnik March 16 Pisces Alan Sodoma Thu March 18 1965 LuckyLurker Richard Konrad Sat March 18 1944 Pisces Barry Wong Thu March 19 1970 Merlin Graham Dombkins Fri March 19 1965 Pisces Ian Young Wed March 19 1969 Squiggol Jeff Wasilko Wed March 19 1969 Pisces Geoff Carre Sat March 20 1954 Pisces John Stewart Sat March 21 1970 Aries Bob Brown Thu March 22 1951 Ham Valerie Nozick Thu March 25 1971 Aries - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 09:31:02 EST From: Songbird22@aol.com Subject: Anyone in New York who... This is such a long shot but I'm just wondering if anyone here that lives in New York or New Jersey knows of a really good string quartet?! I'm looking for one for my upcoming album and also to play at our upcoming wedding... Please email me privately if you do. Thanks! :) Jessica www.aquezada.com/jess | www.mp3.com/jessweiser ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 09:40:07 -0500 From: Paul Blair Subject: Mila Drumke show tonight cancelled What was she doing to break both her arms? >Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 11:04:53 -0500 >From: Little Pro Records >Reply-To: info@littlepro.com >Organization: Little Pro Records >Subject: CANCELLED SHOW > >Because Mila recently broke both of her arms, the Mila Drumke Band will >not appear at Arlene Grocery tommorow (Sat., Feb. 26 @ 8) as planned. > >They'll be back on Saturday, March 18 @ 9 >Arlene Grocery >95 Stanton b/w Ludlow and Orchard >New York City >212.473.9831 > >In the meantime, you can order copies of Hip to Hip at >http://littlepro.com/order/mailorder.html. As of March 1, we will be >accepting credit card orders at littlepro.com. > >Thanks for your support, >-- >Little Pro Records >328 Flatbush Avenue, Suite 207 >Brooklyn, NY 11238 >info@littlepro.com >http://littlepro.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 01:03:10 -0800 From: srelief@teleport.com Subject: Re: ofra and squonk opera so sad to hear of Ofra's death, bubble gum or authenic, her voice was absolutely beautiful and haunting, one of my early influences to go more "world" than rock in my career. she seems so young to die of organ failure, what's up with that? Funny that the same list also mentioned Squonk Opera. Land of the Blind (one of my bands) toured across the country with them in, I think, 1996. We met over the internet because we were reviewed side by side in some zine on an eclectic music page. We talked on the phone and then mentioned that Blind (a west coast project) wanted to go east, and they (yup, Pittsburg) wanted to come east. We booked them with us on the west, vancouver, seattle, portland, (all 8 stayed with me in my house in portland, wild)eugene and sf and across, and we hit their crowds mid west, chicago, pittsburg (where all 8 of us stayed with them), buffalo etc...all and all a very interesting time. They were eclectic to be sure, their shows were almost theatre, wild masks and audience tricks and the lead was almost operatic over jazz/rock/theatre/prog? (hard to describe). Last I heard they lost the lead singer. I have often wondered what happened to them. Did anyone find them? hope all of you are well, sorry i never write, finishing two albums for two projects and it eats all my time but i am ALMOST DONE!!!! Home stretch!!! peace, cyoakha, land of the blind PO Box 198 Mill Valley, CA 94941 (415) 789-8139 lanblind@teleport.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 10:56:52 -0500 From: Paul Blair Subject: Whoa-ho-ho!!! I just happened to wander by and came across this: >Emily's only east coast performance this spring... >she'll be joined by Michael Ross on guitar > >Sunday, March 19 >9:00 PM >The Living Room >84 Stanton Street at Allen, NYC >more info. (212) 533-7235 >Admission free! >Good food and drink available, seating limited. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 13:52:41 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 4/5 Hi, all-- These are the discs I liked this year (as opposed to especially liked, loved, or adored--probably the B-/C+ list, but all things I think are worth ectophiles being aware of, which means probably an A in the outside world). - --Neile These are the discs I liked this year (alphabetical order) An April March, ...something once true, is always true... [ep] Apparent this is the last we'll be hearing from An April March as their sound is shifting and any further releases will be coming out under another name. I can't say I'm too sad, as while I've liked their releases there have only ever been occasional songs that were able to stick in my mind--mostly just a haze of pleasant, dreamy electronic pop. (Available from the label and various online sources for U.S. discs.) Ceylan, Güldestim and Aglayi Aglayi Ceylan is what a friend calls a "pop tart" but she's fun, and the songs have a rich sound which makes them rise above the throng. _Aglayi Aglayi_ is the newer/stronger of the two. She also sounds distinctly Turkish, though there are strong Western pop influences here, too. (Turkish release.) The Changelings, Mercury EP A taste of what The Changelings are working on now. Not so very different from what they've been working on in the past (world-trance-dance), but I don't mind that one bit. (Mail order from the artist.) Shirley Collins & Davy Graham, folk roots, new routes A reissue for fans of stripped-down folk. I've had other discs of Shirley Collins that didn't stick around, but this combination is lovely and fresh early '60s traditional folk. Wonderful! (U.K. release with U.S. distribution.) Sarah Harmer & Jason Euringer, Songs for Clem This is Sarah Harmer of Weeping Tile, doing a bunch of country-sounding songs like "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "Tenesses Waltz" "Stormy Weater," "Your CHeatin' Heart" "Summertime", "Sentimental Journey". It says "recorded on the back porch" and it definitely has a home-grown feel to it. Fun, and I love Sarah Harmer's voice, even when she goes country. (Canadian indie release.) Robyn Hitchcock, Storefront Hitchcock Yeah we got this a little late, but I love "Viva SeaTac". Man, that's funny. And he's right, the Space Needle is a guy. Not as brilliant as _I Often Dream of Trains_ but then very few things in this world are. (Wide release, I think.) joydrop, >metasexual Mostly Garbage-like but with some mellower songs, and will mostly be of interest to those who like very rock sounds. There's one really loud tune that actually at first put me off them (it can take me a lo-o-o-o-ong time to break through the wall of sound thing, particularly as I rarely have time to do nothing but listen to music, and while I'm doing something else loud music I'm not familiar with can get on my nerves) but anyway, I started really liking the rest of the album. (Wide Canadian and U.S. release.) Yungchen Lhamo, Coming Home I'd never heard of her before the discussion of Asian music on ecto. (I think I can pick out bits of my favourite guitarist, Henry Frayne of Lanterna, The Moon Seven Times, and Area). In and of itself while I enjoy this album a lot I don't find it diving into my disc players as some other discs do. (Wide release.) Laurel MacDonald, chroma Mostly sound-songs, a little like Sara Ayers. I like this but it doesn't demand repeated listenings as Ayers does. (Wide release.) Eleni Mandell, wishbone I can now hear the Liz Phair stuff in it--there are only a couple of songs that sound Phair-ish. It's mostly all over the place, with a strong indie/bluesy feel, hence the Tom Waits comments she's been getting. Her voice is not deep and scratchy so I can't imagine any vocal comparisons, and her songwriting doesn't seem that similar to me. Didn't have much player-time. (U.S. indie release with fairly wide distribution.) Amy X Neuburg & Men, Sports! Chips! Booty! This is a little raucous for me to listen to a lot--I have to be in the right mood. I would love to see them live--they sound like they have so much fun that it would be an event. (Mail order and some online sources.) Maria Mattlar Pariisi, Vuorenkyla It's gentle, quiet pop, which is not normally to my taste but there's something appealing about this. Juha tells me it's in the lyrics, but as I don't understand Finnish, it must be something else. Maybe I'm predisposed to like it because one of my musical heroes, Gabriel Yacoub, worked on the disc with her. (European release.) Red Stars Theory--Life in a Bubble Can Be Beautiful The second album by a slowcore boy band that I'm very fond of. Again, the song that Lois Maffeo guests on is a highlight, but the rest of the album is good, too. The vocals are the weak point here, but the music makes up for that. (U.S. indie release with fairly wide distribution.) Kate Rusby--Sleepless Kate Rusby is no Sandy Denny, but she's good, and I like hearing her takes on traditional ballads. She's got a lovely voice and is good at this sort of thing. (Indie U.K. and U.S. but pretty widely available.) Jami Sieber, Second Sight A little unshapely (not exactly sure what I mean by that) but still has some nice moments. Sieber is a cellist and has played with several ecto favourites. The moodiness of the instrument is one of the strengths of this disc, but there is a variety of sound here. (Available from the artist and some online sources.) Strawberry, Brokeheart Audio Much of this is truly wonderful. Sort of a cross between Perfume Tree and Portishead and Lois' indierock. At least that's as good as a description as I can come up with. An interesting, creative mix of stuff. (Canadian indie release.) Richard Thompson--Mock Tudor Richard Thompson seems back in good form after a few less memorable (in my opinion) albums. This is full of catchy songs and the inimitable Richard Thompson tone. (Widely available.) three sheets to the wind, grace under pressure Folk/trad/pop a cappella songs (well, there is some accompaniment on songs songs) by Jane Siberry's backup singer & former member of Fat Man Waving, Rebecca Campbell and two other women. I find Rebecca's contributions by far the strongest, and she writes a few of the songs here. Not something I'll play often, but I do like most of this quite a lot. (Canadian indie release.) Jessica Weiser, Transition ep This ep shows a definite growth from her first ep, both in the strength of her vocals and her maturing songwriting. Her voice has that DIY reedy sound on sustained notes like Juliana Hatfield and Mary Lou Lord have, and her songwriting seems along those lines to me, too, but I actually like her better than either of them. I like how she fits the piano-only piece in here--it's a nice mood break between the guitar pieces, and then ends with another moody piano piece (my favourite on the disc). This makes me look forward to hearing more from Jessica. (Available from the artist.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neile Graham ...... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ....... neile@sff.net Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal . http://www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ....... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 14:00:53 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 5/5 Hi, all-- I don't list discs that I bought and didn't keep (there are several? Many? of those) or of course the discs that I knew ahead of time I wasn't going to like and so didn't bother getting, so there isn't really a "D" or "E" list, but these are the "C-" discs that disappointed me. - --Neile These are the discs that disappointed me out this year (alphabetical order): Emm Gryner, science fair I keep wanting and wanting to like Emm Gryner, and in fact played _The Original Leap Year_ quite a bit when I got it and still find several songs from it in my head. I keep putting this one on the player and finding I'm not in the right mood for it. Me? It? Who knows. Lida Husik, Mad Flavor I've kept listening to Lida Husik over the years because I always find something to love in all her albums, and even like her spacey-sounding work well enough. But now she's back to pop/rock, and I should like it but this one does _nothing_ for me so far. It has disappeared back into the disc collection. I hope to pull it out and rediscover it sometime soon. The Leslie Spit Treeo, Chocolate Chip Cookies This has some annoying chipmunk-voice amusichats interspersed between the songs. I don't know if I can bear it, as The Leslie Spit Treeo has always been an up and down kinda experience for me. I loved about 75% of their _Book of Rejection_, though. Some utterly brilliant material on there. I haven't been able to listen to the songs I really like on this. I guess they were having fun but it gets in the way of me listening to the disc. Low, Secret Name I find Low bores me now--it all sounds the same to me with nothing as catchy as was on their first couple of cds. Nathalie McMaster, In My Hands While I like jigs and reels quite well live they don't work so well on disc for me. Something about being there. So this means that I like the non-traditional tracks on this disc better, and my favourite is the first. I don't have her more traditional earlier discs, but I like this. At least, I like the first couple of tracks on this, then lose interest. Jane Siberry, Child, Lips, Tree Don't hate me, but these really doesn't leap into the cd player at all. I dunno, this particular phase of Jane's creation doesn't click that well with me. My loss, I know, and I'm saddened by it, and go load her first seven albums instead. Stereolab, Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night Stereolab has been one of my favourite bands, and while I don't hate the relaxed, loungey, spacey stuff they've been doing recently I haven't found it particularly compelling, either. Tarkan, ölürüm sana We basically got this for one very silly pop song, about a young man who is trying to kiss his girlfriend and a guy with a cart keeps going between them. The chorus has a repeated kissing sound in it. He's Turkey's George Michael. That song is fun, and we've played it for fun and for a series of visitors. The rest of it, well.... Jill Tracy, diabolical streak While there are a couple of songs on this I really like, it's all so similar it's overkill. I'm not a huge fan of caberet-style music, which is what this is. She's probably the most obvious heir of Brecht/Weill's wicked lyrical cabaret-style music. Which doesn't mean it just doesn't get a bit _much_ after a while. I can't listen to it all the way through, but I like it a track or two at a time. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neile Graham ...... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ....... neile@sff.net Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal . http://www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ....... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 19:32:22 -0500 From: "glenn mcdonald" Subject: Re: Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 5/5 > these are the "C-" discs that disappointed me. > > Emm Gryner, science fair > The Leslie Spit Treeo, Chocolate Chip Cookies > Low, Secret Name I can't let these three let-down confessions go by without noting that these were my #5, #2/3 and #2 albums of their years (1999, 1997, 1999). Detailed rationales available at: Science Fair - http://www.furia.com/twas/twas0252.html#entry1 Chocolate Chip Cookies - http://www.furia.com/twas/twas0107.html#entry1 Secret Name - http://www.furia.com/twas/twas0223.html#entry1 glenn ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 20:32:39 -0800 From: Billi Mazur Subject: Re: ecto classical Hello Everyone, I have been primarily relegated to the role of lurker lately due to my extremely busy work schedule. I wanted to jump in on this thread (even though I may be a little late). JoAnn, I absolutely second Jeff's orchestral suggestions. Stravinsky and Vaughn Williams are two of my favorite composers. All of the pieces that Jeff mentioned are among my favorites. In particular, "The Lark Ascending" has a stunningly beautiful violin phrase. For some beautiful piano pieces, you may want to look at Eric Satie's "Trois Gymnopedies" and "Trois Gnossiennes". Another favorite composer of mine is Claude Debussy. The pieces that I would recommend are "La Mer", "Three Nocturnes", "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" and "Suite Bergamasque". One more favorite of mine is the "Scheherazade" symphonic suite by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Most of these are orchestral pieces. Some of the Debussy pieces mentioned are performed on solo piano. Enjoy! Bill M. Jeffrey Hanson wrote: > Joann, > > Here a few classical pieces I like. > > For violin, I really like Anne Sophie Mutter--she's pretty amazing-- > has a wonderful version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons out last year > in great packaging. Very lively. She's done a lot of modern music > as well as some of the traditional pieces. I tend to like pretty > much everything I have by her. > > I love piano and cello but haven't found any particular soloists > that I can consistently depend on as being great. Though the > Labeque sisters are both quite good--their albums tend to > be hit or miss. > > While not soloists, my favorite composers--who seem to capture > ecto-ish emotions well are Stravinsky and Vaughn Williams. > For Stravinsky, I'd start with Rites of Spring or Firebird Suite, > for Vaughn Williams I'd start with Variations on Themes by Thomas > Tallis or Lark Ascending. > > I'd also recommend Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light. It was > written to accompany the old movie about Joan of Arc (who's > name and director I'm forgetting), and features some great cello > and Anonymous 4. Really beautiful piece--very ectoish. > > Hope this helps. > > Jeff Hanson > > n.p. Lisa Ekdahl - Back to Earth > n.r. Salvation and Other Disasters - Josip Novakovich ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 20:32:52 -0800 From: Billi Mazur Subject: Re: Ofra Haza (1957-2000) Yes it is very, very sad indeed. Ofra was a beautiful woman inside and out with an amazingly expressive and passionate voice. Jack Sutton wrote: > I'm greatly shocked and deeply saddened by this news. > The world has lost a wonderful talent. > > Jack Sutton > Harmony Ridge Music > > At 04:04 PM 2/23/00 -0500, you wrote: > > >From http://www.ofrahaza.com/ > > > >"Ofra Haza > >Nov. 19, 1957 - Feb. 23, 2000 > >--------------------- > >We regret to announce that this evening at 7:40 PM (Israel time) > >Ofra Haza passed away. > > > >There are no words to describe the sorrow and grief we are > >experiencing at this moment. > > > >We love you Ofra and we will miss you..." > > > > > >-- > >|> ~The only thing that is not art is inattention~ --- Marcel Duchamp <| > >| jzitt@metatronpress.com http://www.metatronpress.com/jzitt | > >| Latest CD: Jerusaklyn http://www.mp3.com/josephzitt | > >| Comma: Voices of New Music Silence: the John Cage Discussion List | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 00:25:16 EST From: MockRafe@aol.com Subject: NYC Metro TV & radio ad: Kohl's Hello there... Anyone in the New York City metropolitan area hear a TV and radio ad for Kohl's opening a dozen or more stores in the next couple months. There is a lady's voice singing her heart out for their little jingle who sounds like a cross between Natalie Merchant and Bjork, or a Liz Graham played just a little too fast on an audiocassette tape. Can anyone identify it? Thank you. Yours in Ecto, Mock Rafe ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V6 #56 *************************